Friday, May 22, 2009

Often times when nannies see the writing on the wall, they go into the first stage of grief.1. The first stage of grief is denial.If I pretend this is not happening it won’t be, and I won’t have to figure out what to do or how to find a new job or most importantly, how to leave these children that I love so much.2.Then comes Anger“After all I have done for this family I can’t believe that they treat me like this!Then comes3.BargainingIf I can just focus on the children it will be ok.Then you move on:You either realize that loving the children is not enough and that you have no choice but to move on, or the parents let you go and the decision is beyond your control.This is the time that you find yourself sinking into that dark hole of sadness and pain.4. DepressionYou know that you have to make important decisions but you just can’t find the energy. It is hard to get from one minute to the next and impossible to think of your life in terms of tomorrow, much less the future. This is also the time when you might say to yourself, I will never be a nanny again, this is just too painful.5.AcceptanceEventually you are forced to accept that the job is ending and you need to decide what to do next.Sometimes, even when a job ends, it is still hard to move on to the stage of acceptance. Sometimes not being able to accept that loss contributes to not being happy or successful in our next position.Change is always difficult and it is always an adjustment when you change jobs. Oftentimes, when nannies change jobs, if they are a live in nanny, they also change their place to live.It is also harder for a nanny because unlike a job where you work in a factory, or sit at a desk all day our job elicits emotions of love,compassion caring and tenderness.How do you just turn those feelings off when the job ends?So when we leave a job, we also have to deal with an end or a change to a relationship.It’s easy to say that this is a part of our job and that saying goodbye goes with the territory. It’s easy to say that we “just have to be professional” about it. It’s easy to say “ You just focus on the positive and move on”It just is not “EASY” to do.When you are going through the process of grieving, it is important to have a good support system in place to help you stay focused and help you deal with your emotions.Grieving is a process that you have to work through in your own time on your own schedule.Let yourself feel, let yourself hurt, let yourself cry, and then most importantlyLet yourself heal. When we have to say goodbye, for whatever reason, we often feel betrayed by the parents who entrusted us to love and care for their children.It is hard to be rational with a broken heart but it is very important to accept what you can not change and look to your future.

In Merle Shain’s book “Hearts that We Broke Long Ago” she said:“ People do not usually set out to hurt you, but sometimes you get in the way of what they want or what they need."

If you stop and think about that statement, there is a lot of truth to it.When that family hired you, they did not say, let’s hire a nanny, keep her until she gets attached to the children, and then let her go.It is just a natural process of our job.Sometimes when a job is ending, the parents feel emotional too. If the nanny makes the choice to leave, the parents might feel rejected, and wonder “What did we do to make her want to leave us?”At a time when they might want to say “We don’t’ know how we can live without you, their actions might say “We couldn’t care less that you are leaving”Sometimes it is hard for parents to admit what an important part of your life they are, and if the parents are letting the nanny go they might try to send the message that they will be just fine without her.Never forget that your first priority is support the children through this transition. This is quite possibly one of the most important lessons you will teach the children in your care, and it is crucial that we set an example that they can follow.It also helps to focus on the good times you have had with this family and the happy memories you will take with you.At a time when it is easier to see the negative, try to remember the great experiences you had, the opportunities you were offered and what you learned from the time you spent there.We usually learn more from the hard times in our lives than we do from the happy times.If a position is ending badly, and you wish that you could pour your heart out to the family, you might try just writing a letter to get your feelings out on paper. You don’t have to mail it but just writing your thoughts down might be helpful in processing all the emotion you are feeling.When you allow yourself to forgive, you can move forward but until you can forgive (Whether it is for treating you badly, or letting you go, or keeping you from their children) you can never truly move forward and you can never truly begin to heal.If you choose to hold on to the wrong that was done to you, you choose to drag a heavy load around with you and it will weigh you down and hold you back. It will also keep you in the pain.Dealing with the pain is not something that is going to go away in a week or month or even years. .Children grow up in spite of us, whether we are there, or not. I sometimes find myself looking at old pictures or videos of my charges when they were little I truly miss them being at those stages of their life but I also enjoy seeing them grow up and learn and know that I have had a part of all of that.If you are leaving a family on good terms it is important for you to talk about how you are going to deal with telling the children.Who is going to tell them, what they will be told and whether or not you will be a part of that.The nanny should never tell a child she is leaving without the parents ok, and she should never tell the child that the parents are making her leave or firing her.Even though you might be hurt or angry, you should always take the high road as you transition to the final days in this position.You will never be sorry you took the high road, but you may regret it if you take the low road.In the book "How to Survive the Loss of Love" they talk about the stages of recovery taking place in three distinct, yet overlapping stages.They are :shock/denial/numbnessfear/anger/depressionunderstanding/acceptance/moving onEach stage of recovery isnecessarynaturala part of the healing process

Having said all of that, sometimes, the pain is more than we can bear alone.If you think you need help, don't hesitate. Get it at once.If you are feeling suicidal--or even think you might be feeling suicidal--call a Suicide Prevention Hotline at once.You should also seek help at once if you:feel you are "coming apart"are no longer in controlare about to take an action you may later regrethave a history of emotional disturbanceturn to alcohol, drugs or other addictive substances in time of needfeel isolated with no one to turn torepeatedly find yourself in loss situationsSometimes, we all need a little bit of extra help to get through a really difficult time. It is nothing to be embarrassed about.

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This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart but if you have questions or specific things you would like addressed here, please email menannytransitions (at) gmail(dot)comIf you are going through a transition and need support, please feel free to email me.g